Citizens of the USSR and then Russian Federation were unable to leave the country without a special stamp in the passport called “the exit visa”. It is only after January 1993 that citizens of Russia were able to freely leave the country, subject to requirements of entry to other destinations.
Now people from Russia are able to travel freely, subject to entry requirements in the destination country. But it was a completely different system during the decades preceding Perestroika, which began in 1985 and resulted in a complete reformation of the Soviet Union.
What is an exit visa?
Some countries still have such an order that a citizen has to have a permit to cross the border to exit internationally. It is a way of controlling citizen’s movement.
The law allowing to open borders in Russia, which was accepted in 1993, removed the need for exit visas.
The order of getting such visas was already made a bit easier in May 1991, but an exit visa was still required.
Until May 1991 the order of getting a permit to leave USSR was extremely complicated.
Such permits were closely linked to the dates of travel, and the resident had to be back by the stated date, or him and his family would be in a big trouble.
While this practice had be abolished by Russia in 1993, there are talks about returning the need to have an exit visa to leave the country. So, while it may seem like something out of Orwell’s “1984”, there are actually forces within the current political powers that would like to limit citizens’ travelling abroad, Visasam.ru reported.
Young Russian girls don’t remember the period of the USSR, which collapsed in 1991, but half of them believe things were better during the Soviet times. But were they, really? People had virtually no ability to travel outside the country. This is something that today’s young generation considers their birth right — to travel and see the world.
Exit visas in the USSR
The entry permits to leave the country were introduced in early 1930s.
By 1980s the procedure of getting such a permit became extremely complicated.
- The applicant had to obtain a reference from the government factory or office he or she was working for. It had to be positive, or the application would be rejected. Devotion to the USSR was one of the main requirements. Most people who were approved to get an exit visa were communists or members or the youth communist organization (Komsomol). Being active as a union member and involvement in other community projects was also an unspoken requirement.
- This reference would have to be signed by all managers, from the lowest level to the director of the company (factory). The chiefs of the union and the communist organization at work also had to sign it.
- Then the reference letter had to be voted for at the meeting of the communist cell of the organization. Such meetings were held only once a month, so the applicant would have to wait until that date.
- Once signed at the organization level, the reference letter would have to get the stamp of approval at the meeting of the communist party’s area committee. It is on that level that the members would give the final approval of the application for an exit visa. The applicant was present at the meeting and had to inform about the purpose of the foreign trip and also tell about the political system of the country he was planning to visit. The applicant was also quizzed about the history of the USSR and communist party of the Soviet Union. Inability to answer any such questions would deem the applicant unsuitable to get the permit. It was easy for the committee to keep asking questions until the applicant cannot answer, requiring about important dates etc. So, if the committee didn’t want to approve the visa, it was easy to justify. Loyal members of the communist party were not quizzed, but anyone who had doubts over loyalty would be turned back. Divorced citizens had more problems: They had to explain the reasons for leaving the spouse. If the reason seemed frivolous to the members of the committee, the person’s application would be rejected. If the members of the committee were happy with the answers, the applicant was given the green light.
- The next step of the application was to complete the questionnaire, which had to include the names and addresses of all the close family members, where they worked or studied. All these people would be checked for loyalty to the state.
- Then the applicant was able to go to the only travel agent that was selling tours abroad, “Intourist” and book the trip. It wasn’t possible to purchase the tour until all the documents were signed and completed.
- The communist party committee was informing the department of visas, which, in its turn, was informing Intourist about the status of the application for the exit visa. Once the visa was granted, the applicant could pay for the trip and collect the tickets.
- To travel abroad, the applicant needed a “foreign passport”, as people in Russia call the passport allowing to travel internationally. The local ID document is called simply, “passport”.
- Before leaving the country, Soviet citizens had to leave their local passports “for safekeeping”. Only on their return the local ID document was given back.
The exit visa looked like a stamp on a page of a passport, similar to stamps you get when crossing a border today.
Top communist party officials, high level sportsmen, famous actors, directors of large companies and universities didn’t have to go through the same procedure. If a person already was appointed to a high rank position, they were pre-checked and could simply apply for an exit permit with the department of visas.
Does the process sound daunting and complicated to you? Did you know it was so hard?
Read also:
- How to meet women from the former Soviet Union who seek partners abroad?
- 20 countries where Russians can travel without a visa
- What do Russians think about education abroad? Is it better or worse than in Russia?
- The peculiar reason why Russian women hunt for foreign husbands
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